COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. --- The South Dakota School of Mines women's basketball team may have dropped a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matchup Saturday night, falling to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Mountain Lions, 81-72, but the Hardrockers showed a lot of fight in the game and had a great "never say die" mentality.

The Lady 'Rockers went up against a very balanced UCCS team, with a solid perimeter game to complement their exceptional play in the paint. The Mountain Lion boast the RMAC pre-season MVP in Brittany Hernandez, who lived up to her billing, with a 29-point performance.

And despite falling behind by as many as 18 points midway through the third quarter, SD Mines was able to mount a come-back and put a little fear into the home team down the stretch. Fighting to the very end, the Hardrockers managed to cut into the lead and trim the deficit to seven points with less than two minutes to play, but just couldn't get over the hump as time expired.

It was a very tight start to the game as UCCS took a six-point edge after the first quarter, 19-13, and managed to extend their advantage to 10 at the half, 39-29. The Mountain Lions outscored SD Mines, 24-18, in the third quarter and led, 63-47, heading into the final frame. The Hardrockers put up 25 points to UCCS's 18 in the fourth quarter.

SD Mines did a great job matching UCCS's perimeter shooting as the Hardrockers hit 11 from behind the arc and made good on 26-63 attempts from the field to shoot 41 percent and were 9-17 from the foul line. The Lady 'Rockers also grabbed 38 rebounds, had 13 assists, five steals and one block.

The Mountain Lions tallied 13 three-pointers while connecting on 26-58 from the field for 45 percent and were 16-20 from the foul line. The home team collected 39 rebounds, 16 assists, seven steals and one block.

Individually for SD Mines, freshman Sami Steffeck led her team with 17 points, including five three-pointers, and had two rebounds and an assist. Junior Payton Humpal cashed in on three attempts from three-point range and ended with 11 points and a steal. Senior Megan Rohrer also posted 11 markers to go along with her six rebounds, two assists and one block. Senior Heather Rogers, sophomore Taylor Molstad, junior Krista Showalter and freshman Anna Haugen all contributed with six points each.

After Hernadez's 29, UCCS's Toni Fisher added 12 points and Chelsea Pearson had nine.

The loss drops SD Mines to 2-5 on the season and 0-2 in the conference. Next the Hardrockers have four-game home stand, first challenging Colorado Christian Friday at the King Center.